Last update - 00:00 04/11/2007
Palestinian PM seeks $120m a month from donors
By Haaretz Staff and Agencies
The Palestinian Authority will ask donor nations for budget support of up to $120 million a month, for two to three months, until pledges for a 2008-2010 development plan start coming in, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayad said yesterday.
Donor nations will meet in Paris in December to determine the level of support they will lend the Palestinian Authority in the coming years.
Fayad, a former finance minister and International Monetary Fund official, said he expects strong financial support for his government.
Fayad was installed by Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas after Abbas fired a Hamas-led government in response to Hamas' forcible takeover of the Gaza Strip in June.
With a moderate government in place in the West Bank, Israel resumed the transfer of tens of millions of dollars a month in tax rebates to the Palestinian Authority. These funds were key in helping Fayad meet the government payroll for 175,000 employees.
Fayad said Israel will have paid all of the withheld funds by December, and that the Palestinian Authority would ask donor countries to contribute about $120 million a month, for two to three months, to the Palestinian budget.
"All indications show that the Paris conference will be a success, in terms of support for our development plan for the years 2008-2010, and we will need to cover [our expenses] for two to three months until this plan starts producing," he said. "There are good signs from the donors that this period will be covered."
The head of the Palestinian Authority's central bank, George Abed, has tendered his resignation to Abbas, a PA aide said yesterday. The aide, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Abbas was likely to accept Abed's request to step down as governor of the Palestine Monetary Authority (PMA) due to his "personal circumstances."
Several PMA sources confirmed that Abed, a former senior official at the International Monetary Fund, has told staff he was resigning after two and a half years in the post.
Private banking sources said they believed that personal rather than policy reasons were the main motivation for the governor leaving. There was no immediate word on a successor.
The aide said: "Dr. George Abed has informed the president of his resignation. So far, there has been no official response from the president."
He described the departure of Abed, who is credited with substantial reforms of the PMA, as a loss to the Palestinian people but believed the president would accept the request.
Western officials have credited the PMA with reforming the banking system and implementing international rules, including pressuring Palestinian banks to sever ties with militant groups.
The institution is mandated to manage a Palestinian currency once a state is established. Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza now use Israeli shekels, U.S. dollars and Jordanian dinars.